Islamabad, Dec 30 Hundreds of daily-wage workers and porters in Pakistan are facing financial problems due to the continued closure of the Torkham border as they have lost their part-time jobs, local media reported on Monday.
As the Torkham border remains shut due to tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the majority of these labourers are looking for jobs in Punjab and Sindh, while others have borrowed money from relatives and friends to manage their daily expenses. They have even stopped sending children to schools as they do not have money to pay fees, the Dawn reported. Reportedly, some jobless daily-wagers and porters have started taking drugs as they are facing mental stress.
Speaking to Dawn, Mansoor Ali stated that he abandoned his FSc computer science course midway due to poverty and started carrying the luggage of Afghan and Pakistani nationals between the border point and the taxi stand for little money.
The 24-year-old, who has been married for only eight months, said he was having sleepless nights due to mental stress after losing his job following the border closure. He said he has already borrowed money from his relatives to manage the expenses of his family.
Torkham Labourers and Porters Association leader Ali Shinwari expressed fear that the young jobless labourers could join proscribed terrorist groups, which want to exploit the distressing conditions of such frustrated youth. "We also fear that some young tribesmen will be employed as drug peddlers as narcotics dealers offer them good wages," he said.
The problems for these daily wagers, the majority of them unskilled people, started in 2016 when Pakistan announced a visa policy for Afghan and Pakistani nationals commuting between Afghanistan and Pakistan via the Torkham border.
Earlier in October, Pakistan shut all trade routes with Afghanistan after Pakistani forces conducted attacks near the Durand Line. In response to Pakistan's attacks, Afghan forces also carried out attacks. After the closure of the trade route, Afghanistan's Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar Akhun,d urged industrialists and traders to use alternative trade routes instead of Pakistan.
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